NEW YORK (June 19, 2007) — Penton Media’s Expansion Management™, a business magazine for executives of companies actively looking to expand or relocate their facilities, today released its 2007 “Best Cities for Business Recruitment and Attraction” rankings, developed with the National Policy Research Council, a non-partisan think tank dedicated to serving state and local policymakers. A list of the top 20 ranked metro areas, as well as the top 20 county relocation destinations, is available in the May/June 2007 issue of Expansion Management and on the Web at www.expansionmanagement.com.
The rankings are based on NPRC analysis of the relocation activity of 19 million companies over the past eight years, which determined the most popular commercial relocation destinations.
Arizona, New Hampshire, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia were the top state destinations, followed by New Mexico, Nevada, West Virginia, Alabama and North Carolina. Phoenix, Charlotte, Austin, Las Vegas and Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla., were the top destinations among Large Metro Areas.
“For the states, metros and counties that ranked highly in this study, it represents the best of all possible validation that their local economy is on the right track,” said Bill King, chief editor of Expansion Management. “When faced with the decision of where in the entire United States to locate a new facility or branch office, the consensus of millions of business executives was to choose these locations for significant business investment.”
Canton-Massillon, Ohio; Huntsville, Ala., Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark., Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pa., and Tucson, Ariz., topped the list among Mid-Size Metros. St. Joseph, Mo., State College, Pa., Auburn-Opelika, Ala., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Jackson, Tenn., were the top Small Metro destinations.
The rankings are based on two measures: relocation rate and new branch rate. The relocation rate is the number of business establishments (headquarters, subsidiaries, independents) that relocated to another market during the most recent 8-year period and still survive today, as a percent of all business establishments in the market. The new branch rate is the number of branches opened during the most recent 8-year period that still survive today, as a percent of all business establishments in the market. To achieve a high overall rank, a location must have a relatively high percentage of business facilities that have physically relocated to the area.
For additional information on the “Best Cities for Business Recruitment and Attraction” rankings, contact Bill King, chief editor, at (913) 338-1503 (BillKing@Penton.com.).
Expansion Management is part of Penton Media’s industry-leading Commercial Real Estate Group, which includes the National Real Estate Investor®, Retail Traffic® and Lodging Hospitality® brands. The magazine distributed to more than 44,000 CEOs, vice presidents, directors and other officers of companies that have indicated they are considering expanding into new geographic areas. In addition to its bimonthly magazine, the publication offers e-newsletters, Webcasts, conferences and additional digital information for its audience. For more information, visit www.expansionmanagement.com. Expansion Management is published by Penton Media, Inc.
Penton Media, Inc. is the largest independent business-to-business media company in the U.S., serving more than six million business professionals every month. The company's market-leading brands are focused on 30 industries and include 113 trade magazines, 145 Web sites, 150 industry trade shows and conferences, and more than 500 information data products. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its co-investors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com .
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